Three days of Christmas

Pasadena heads into the holidays with a variety of events

With Turkey Day behind us and Christmas and Hanukkah to come, Pasadena is coming alive with plenty of seasonal fun. Even better, much of it is free or affordably priced.

Head out to one or more of the following five events this weekend for some holiday spirit.

Kick the weekend off with a visit to South Pasadena’s Mission Street celebration, which features an old-fashioned tree lighting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Farmers Market, located at Meridian Avenue and El Centro Street. There’ll be plenty of instrumental music, songs from two choirs and a “make an ornament” station at Oneonta Congregational Church, 1515 Garfield Ave., South Pasadena.

Spend Saturday afternoon exploring Pasadena’s South Lake Avenue district, where a Holiday Celebration from 2 to

5 p.m. will feature photos with Santa, a scavenger hunt and more than $3,000 in prizes. For more information, visit southlakeavenue.org.

For those seeking an extravagant event, All Saints Church is just the place to be when it hosts its Holiday Candlelight service at 7 p.m. Saturday, featuring a special performance by the Pasadena Symphony. All Saints is at 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. Tickets are $30 to $125. Call (626) 796-1172 or visit allsaints-pas.org.

Another merry musical event takes place at 8 p.m. Saturday at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium when “A Celtic Christmas” recreates the famous Rambling House, a remote cottage in Ireland where neighbors have historically gathered to celebrate as a community before Christmas. Combining energetic traditional music, Irish Christmas songs, and traditional dance numbers, the show costs $10 to $32 and is located at 332 S. Michigan Ave., Pasadena. Call (626) 395-6811 or visit Caltech.edu.

Finally, head over to the Villa Esperanza Services from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Sunday to help with the 3rd Annual Deck the Villa event, in which attendees can help trim a tree, string lights and savor hot chocolate and cookies while helping disabled adults. Villa Esperanza is at 2060 E. Villa St., Pasadena. Admission is free. Call (626) 449-2919 or visit villaesperanzaservices.org.